Today in History - History - April 17th

1939Joe Louis KOs Jack Roper in 1 for heavyweight boxing title

1961Jimmy Stewart accepts an honorary Oscar on behalf of his friend Gary Cooper, who is too ill to attend

1983Islanders tie NHL record with 3 shorthanded playoff goals vs Rangers Rangers 7-Isles 6-Patrick Div Finals-Isles hold 2-1 lead Wayne Gretzky scores 7 points in one Stanley Cup playoff game

1997NJ Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game

1970Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released

1939Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-Nazi pact

1808Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships

1945Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan

1988Nancy Lopez wins LPGA AI Star/Centinela Hospital Golf Classic

1987Julius Erving becomes 3rd NBA player to score 30,000 points

1972Jennifer Garner [Affleck], Houston, Texas. American actress (Sydney Bristow-Alias)

1620Marguerite Bourgeoys, Troyes France, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame (first Canadian saint)

1923Harry Reasoner, Dakota City Iowa, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC, CBS)

1974Victoria Beckham [Adams], Harlow, Essex, English singer (Posh Spice-Spice Girls)

1943Actress Claire Trevor (34) weds Navy lieutenant Cyclos William Dunsmoore in Tijuana, Mexico

2009World's no. 1 professional tennis player Andy Roddick (29) weds fashion model and actress Brooklyn Decker (25) in Austin, Texas

1790Benjamin Franklin, US, US Founding Father, inventor ambassador and writer (Poor Richards Almanac), dies at 84

2014Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist (1982 Nobel Prize in Literature), dies of pneumonia at 87